


Magnum Opus

by Zippit



Category: Fullmetal Alchemist, Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood & Manga
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-12-04
Updated: 2012-12-04
Packaged: 2017-11-20 06:36:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 447
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/582365
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Zippit/pseuds/Zippit
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In the end, when Roy and Ed have done everything they set out to do and monuments litter the countryside to their achievements, the most enduring monument of all is the one in Ed's heart.</p><p>Because the time they should have stretching out unlimited before them is far shorter than either of them want.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Magnum Opus

**Author's Note:**

> This was what came pouring out when I started writing. I guess you could say it's part of the Another Road Traveled universe as a possible future.
> 
> Thanks to [](http://archiveofourown.org/users/catw00man/profile)[](http://archiveofourown.org/users/catw00man)**Catw00man** for the beta. All other errors are mine.
> 
> Written for prompt #188 - Don't Forget over at [fma_fic_contest](http://fma-fic-contest.livejournal.com).  
> 

In Central, there's a scorched section of parade ground.

In Ishval stands a statue built from regret and a lifetime of atonement.

In the hearts and minds of the Amestrian people is a war hero that turned the sight of Amestrian blue from a curse into a benediction.

But the most enduring monument of all is the one in his heart. The Roy Mustang who would sit by the fire with a book and his fingers curled in the strands of Ed's hair. The man so few knew. The man he knew for over half his life. The man he's loved so long he's forgotten what it's like to not.

There was no blaze of glory he sometimes thought Roy wanted as a final send off. No, this was a peaceful passing, surrounded by family and friends. The air filled with soft goodbyes and tearful farewells. In the hollow silence after, Ed had nothing left to give, swept away on a wave of emotion. It was all he could do to stand on his two feet and move from moment to moment.

On the day of the funeral it rained. Fitting for a man who'd been completely useless in it. Bastard. He was one of the few that endured the downpour without an umbrella. His tears mingled with the rain until it seemed the world was mourning too. The only way he could let himself grieve.

In the days and months after, the house was too quiet, the bed too large, and everything was gauze covered and opaque. Nothing left, nothing here, nothing there. No Roy to argue over the latest alchemic breakthrough, no Roy to tell him things would be okay, no Roy to take the edge off his foul temper with his favorite home cooked meal.

No Roy in general.

And it hurt. It dug its way into all the hollow places, the jagged pieces still clawing against each other finding a new way to be. All the moments, all the silences that should be filled with another voice, another thought, another presence, but instead ring resoundingly empty.

He takes off early from work and visits the grave. He breaks. Bent, broken, rough stone digging into his palms, he kneels on the grave, his head bowed against the headstone while he howls his pain and grief to the skies. It’s the first voice his pain has found since the....

Collapsed against the stone is how Havoc finds him after dusk. The hand on his shoulder is gentle but the look of empathy in his eyes stabs through him. He can't do this. He can't do this alone. He can't do this without Mustang. 

He _can't_.


End file.
